SAVol7Dec09WesternCo.. - Saptarishis Astrology

The subtle objects: Subjective visual phenomenaSubtle meditation objects can be feelings and thoughts. For developing the inner sense,however, those objects are particularly well suited which appear through the fusion of theinner sense and the visual sense. I’m referring to those subjective visual phenomena whichare known in ophthalmology as “entoptic phenomena”. Entoptics are phenomena which arebelieved by the observer to be seen outside of him- or herself, though, physiologicallyexplained; they are generated by the observer’s visual system. The following entopticphenomena are suited as meditation objects for most people:Afterimages: contrasting colored afterimages may be explained as the continuation of theeffect of a visual stimulus when this stimulus has gone already. For example, blinking intothe sun for a short time period will produce the colored afterimage of the sun in our visualfield.Meditation on afterimages includes producing these images by shortly glancing into a lightsource, e.g. a bulb or a candle flame. Against a dark background or with the eyes shut, weobserve these colored luminous spots until they lose their intensity. Again, we generateanother afterimage and observe it until it fades and so on. Observing the afterimage, weactively move it with our view and watch it change its form and intensity; we study itsproper motion and the influence of our eye movements on its luminosity.Phosphenes: Phosphenes are colored spots and blurs in the dark, often seen with eyes closed.They are said to be discharges of visual neurons. Meditation on phosphenes works similarlike meditation on afterimages. However, it is more difficult because it has to be donewithout the stimulating effect of an external light source. We close the eyes and watch thecolored spots taking shape in the dark. They tend to disappear from our awareness andtherefore have to be made aware again and again by realigning our attention. An elaboratedsystem of consciousness development focusing on afterimages and phosphenes was createdby the French scientist and inventor, Dr. Francis Lefebure; the exercises of his“Phosphenism” combine visual concentration on afterimages with (neuro) physiologicalrhythmics.Eye Floaters (mouches volantes): Eye floaters are scattered semi-transparent dots andstrands appearing with bright light conditions in our visual fields and following the eyes’motions. In ophthalmology, they are regarded as a normal opacity of the vitreous dueto progressing age. Eye floaters meditation means that we bring these the objects into ourfield of vision and consciously look at them. We explore them, get to know their forms,constellations, and movements. We notice that the floaters constantly drift away, mainlydown, and try to keep them in the field of vision. More advanced meditators of eye floaterswill begin to see changes in movement, size and luminosity. The teaching of my mentor,seer Nestor, provides elaborated seeing and ecstasy techniques to work with eye floaters, aswell as a spiritual interpretation of these dots and strands.114